The Danish city of Haslev last year marked its 150th anniversary and now it’s had a royal visit to celebrate its jubilee. Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark travelled to the area to celebrate on October 11th 2021.
In October 1870, the railway came to Haslev. It initiated a rapid development for the small village, and at Monday`s event, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess together with the Danish Minister of Transport Benny Engelbrecht, Mayor of Faxe Municipality Ole Vive, the city council and hundreds of citizens helped celebrate the city’s 150th anniversary as a station town.
The celebration, which took place a year later than planned due to last year’s restrictions, began at the station square, where the Crown Prince placed a memorial plaque. Afterwards, the Crown Princess unveiled a plaque on the occasion of the selection of Haslev as Denmark’s most beautiful station town in 2020.
After this event, the couple’s visit continued in Gisselfeld Monastery forest, where there is a 45 meter high forest tower, which in recent years has become a major tourist attraction in the area. At the top of the tower, there is a viewing platform located 140 meters above sea level and where there are views of forest and fields.
On clear days you can see all the way to the Danish capital of Copenhagen and Malmö in southern Sweden, which are more than 50 kilometres away, and at the top, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess unveiled a sign on the railing indicating how far it is to Amalienborg castle in Copenhagen. The forest tower consists of 12 circles in an hourglass structure that winds around three beech trees. The 45-meter high forest tower was designed by the Danish architectural firm EFFEKT and has won several architectural awards. The Forest Tower has been nominated for the EU Architecture Prize, the Mies van der Rohe Prize, in 2022.
